Samsung launched its hotly-anticipated Galaxy S4 smartphone last Friday (April 26), causing a frenzy at every tech retailer on the high street.

The flagship Android device is a real powerhouse, with its 5-inch HD Super AMOLED 1,920×1080, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and 13-megapixel camera, but is it worth ditching that iPhone 5 or turning your nose up to the HTC One for?

How close do you have to be for the smart pause to work? (From Jay-Cee)
"From our tests with this feature it can sometimes be a little hit and miss. Holding the handset at arm's reach seems to be fine but it's dependent on lighting too. It even seems to work if you close your eyes. Perfect if you're prone to falling asleep while watching movies! "

What are your thoughts on the two different processor versions - availability and difference to the consumer - (both casual and power users)? Care to compare the strengths and weaknesses vs the HTC One? (From paulbrock)
"When first announced that we would be missing out on the Exynos 5 Octa, I wasn't too concerned about not having the octa-core variant reach our shores, due to issues regarding battery life - but looking into it a little further it appears the more powerful chip will actually improve battery life due to its power management abilities.

"I doubt this will be much of a concern for casual users as the battery is already an improvement over the S3 and most users would be unlikely use the full capacity of the quad-core anyway. For the power users out there who will want to push the handset to its limit, it's going to be a real shame to miss out on the Exynos 5 Octa.

"Both the S4 and the HTC One have their positives and negatives. In terms of design, the S4 hasn't changed much at all since the S3 whereas the One certainly feels a little sturdier. In terms of the display both devices are very similar but the S4 probably edges forward with its excellent Super AMOLED screen. There's also the benefit of Gorilla Glass 3 to protect from scratches and shattering.

"Both devices run Jelly Bean 4.2 and will be second in line after the Nexus series to receive the Key Lime Pie update when Google make it official later in May. It's difficult to review the software as one user may have preference to Samsung's Touchwiz over HTC's Sense, however due to the abundance of Samsung features on the S4, it may feel bloated and therefore get in the way of the device's core functionality.

"In terms of device benchmarking, the S4 with its 1.9Ghz chipset just about comes ahead of the One when measuring the CPU, RAM, GPU and I/O performance. In real world examples however, the HTC seems a little more fluid when navigating the home screen and opening apps compared to some very subtle micro-lag present on the S4."

Will the octo-core S4 ever make an appearance in the UK? I saw that the quad core version was supposed to be optimised for the LTE that's rolling out over the UK, but with that being cost-prohibitive for most, the octo-core would be a better deal for longer battery life and still being HSDPA+ compliant. (From Biffo the Bear)
"I agree with you. Ignoring the fact that LTE is only available in select areas anyway; the octo-core device appears to be the better package. Being able to switch between the i9500's Cortex-A7 with four cores clocked at 1.2 GHz for low-powered tasks and the Cortex-A15 with four cores clocked at 1.6 GHz for heavy lifting, means that battery life is hugely benefited.

"I think Samsung have probably decided that most users will not use the full potential of the quad-core anyway and therefore don't need the extra hardware.

"I suspect when the competition catches up, Samsung will have to reconsider the availability of the octo-core in the UK. Another reason the octo-core chipset and the LTE package here in the UK were kept apart could be due to internal cooling/heat issues - there are a lot of rumours on this topic though so take your pick!"

One of the main things I use my phone for is listening to music (With earphones) how is the samsung music player and most importantly is the sound quality good? (From paulbax)
"The Samsung media player actually came second to the HTC One in music playback terms in our tests. The stock player is pretty good but did struggle with some more niche formats like *.ogg and *.flac files. 3rd party apps are your friend here though and PowerAmp will see this problem vanish quickly for a couple of quid!"

How's the battery life (for 3G internet use) compared to its main competitors such as the HTC one, Xperia Z and iPhone 5?
"In terms of internet usage, you'll be probably getting around 8-9 hours of web browsing with the S4. Apple claim that their iPhone 5 can last up to 8 hours as do Sony with the Xperia Z which has the fairly decent Stamina mode to extend battery life. The HTC One edges beyond this by about an hour or so and therefore isn't hugely different."

I'm very near the end of my iPhone 4 contract. Why would you recommend looking at the S4 instead of the iPhone 5? (From Tom Miller)
"There are many reasons to look at the S4 as a suitable upgrade. One of which would be the innovative Samsung features that the handset's bundled with and the flexibility of Android itself.

"It's got some impressive camera features such as Dual Shot which lets you take front and rear video and pictures simultaneously, Sound and Shoot which records a 9 second audio when you take a picture to accompany that moment and Drama Shot that combines elements of images taken in burst mode to give the best overall picture.

"You've also got services like Samsung Knox to split your phone into personal and work spaces. The new Blackberry Z10 does something very similar to this and we'll likely see more manufacturers copy this feature in the future.

"Conversely, a move to Samsung would mean losing access to the well-established Apple application eco-system. So there are certainly reasons for staying as well depending on how much you've invested."

What is your opinion on the phone size in comparison to an iPhone 4 (my current phone). I'm very tempted to upgrade to the S4 when my current contract is up, but the phone does look a bit bigger in the pictures I've seen so far. (From radiogeek)
"The S4 is quite a bit bigger than the iPhone 4 so certainly comes as a shock to those with smaller hands.

"That entire screen real estate is used up efficiently however as the handset is very compact with little wasted space. I was an early adopter of the Nokia N-Gage (oh, the shame) so I've grown familiar with larger handsets and this one feels right. The S4 does feel natural to use however considering its size and definitely uses the space to its full potential."

Have you had any experience of using the phone in direct sunlight? I currently use my phone a lot for watching films while commuting but the sunlight through the train window often gets in the way of that and makes the screen hard to watch! (From Thomas Poots)
I haven't managed to try out the S4 in direct sunlight as we haven't really had that much bright sunshine during testing. Under the lighting in our office however, the handset fairs very well indeed. Due to how screens are manufactured I don't think there are any handsets out at the moment that will fair too well in direct sunlight unfortunately."